Murphy named Mid-Major Player of the Week by CollegeHoops.net

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Tech senior guard Kevin
Murphy has been named Mid-Major Player of the Week by
CollegeHoops.net for his performances in victories over East
Tennessee State and Lipscomb.

The web site publishes its Mid-Major Player of the Week as part
of a review of the previous week of college basketball action
published each Monday.

Murphy, the leading scorer in the Ohio Valley Conference,
enjoyed the best week of his stellar senior season to-date, scoring
23 points in an 83-74 win over East Tennessee State and tossing in
29 in an 89-87 overtime victory over Lipscomb.

Against Lipscomb, Murphy scored 19 of his points in the second
half, helping to spark a rally from an eight-point deficit at
intermission. He went 10-for-13 from the field against ETSU and got
hot from three-point range against Lipscomb, going 4-for-8 from
beyond the arc.

Murphy led Tech in scoring in both games and contributed on the
boards, grabbing seven rebounds against Lipscomb and five against
ETSU. He also moved into eighth on Tech’s all-time scoring
list against ETSU, surpassing Hall of Famer Kenny Sidwell. Murphy
has now scored 1,525 career points.

The Fairburn, Ga., native also extended his streak to 14
consecutive games with a made three-pointer on Saturday. The streak
began against Jacksonville State on Feb. 26 of last season.

Murphy is averaging 20.8 points per game this season, a number
that ranks him first in the OVC and 19th nationally. He
is also pulling down 5.7 rebounds per contest to go with 1.7
assists and 1.3 steals and is shooting 43 percent from three-point
range.

“Kevin is having a good season,” head coach Steve
Payne says. “Our guys are doing a good job of screening for
him and getting him the ball in situations where he can score. He
is playing at a high level offensively and improving defensively.
The challenge is for him to continue to be efficient on offense and
continue to get better on defense.”

The Golden Eagles are taking final exams this week and return to
action on Saturday at Evansville. Tip-off is set for 1:05 p.m.